A Bengaluru-based NGO, Agastya International Foundation
(AIF), jointly with Infosys Science Foundation (ISF)has launched Mobile Science Labs. It
announced on Tuesday. It aims to ensure access to children between class 5 and
10 in remote areas to Science education, providing students in government
schools to learn Science in a right way.
Last year, teachers' training programme was conducted by Infosys in which over 550 teachers from government schools in Karnataka were participated following which this initiative has been launched. Low-cost science models provided to schools is a benefit by mobile labs.
The trustee of Infosys Science Foundation (Srinath Batni), said that mobile labs will fill in the gaps caused by by insufficient infrastructure and inadequate access to experiential learning. Functional labs are a necessity to students and ISF labs are a step in this direction.
K Thiagarajan of the foundation commented that these labs are travelling across the country following up on the training programme provided by Infosys to the teachers last year. They plan to introduce four labs in Karnataka with first one leading to Tumakuru with two experts.
The motive is to provide teachers with tools and methodologies to explain concepts innovatively, encourage curiosity and promote experiential learning. Last year's training programme covered over 1,000 teachers from government schools across 34 districts. The ISF has instituted Gnanadeepa, a programme to transform the education system at grassroots level by empowering teachers and pre-service teachers with creative teaching frameworks.